The Simply Smarter Blog

It may be one of the greatest pet peeves for teachers. You get some fancy new technology to use in the classroom, oohs and aahs abound, but it’s incompatible or difficult to use with existing software and other systems. Or you need to learn an entirely new system, so it becomes a major time investment that counters what you thought you’d save with the technology. What educators need – and what will invariably make their jobs easier – is technology that can link up to existing devices seamlessly and that will require minimal effort to get up to speed on. This is where having an open platform solution can provide huge benefits. For interactive displays, open platform is essentially an agnostic tool that can connect with any other devices in the classroom environment.

Over the past few years, working from home at least a few days a week has become a regular occurrence. This way of work has shifted family dynamics, as many have turned guest rooms into offices, splurged on top-notch Wi-Fi systems, and even moved homes due to no longer having to commute to work every day. At first, your ideal home office may be as simple as a room that is secluded from traffic or lawnmower noises, but if you really think about making your workspace perfect for productivity, there are clearly other aspects that need to be considered. In my quest to put together my ideal home office, I examined all critical components, from hardworking hardware to a motivating ambiance.

In today’s continuously evolving workplace, the need for communication and collaboration is more important than ever. Digital technology is constantly reshaping the way people work. Employees are bringing tablets, laptops and smartphones into meetings as ways to share information. Additionally, many employees work on a hybrid schedule, where they are partially in the office and partially remote. One of the most impactful ways companies can create a collaborative space is by introducing an interactive whiteboard into their meeting rooms. With an interactive whiteboard in a business setting, meeting attendees can use their personal handheld devices to share their information with all participants using the interactive display, whether working in the office or remotely.

The world has undergone a massive technology evolution over the past decade and it’s particularly noticeable within the higher education sector. Previously, students would lug around a backpack heavier than them, filled with textbooks, notebooks and supplies. Now, they have slim laptops and tablets full of the materials needed to complete assignments, take notes and collaborate with others in their class. It’s critical for the classroom to evolve alongside students’ tools to create a streamlined, productive learning experience for all.

One way to achieve this is through the addition and/or upgrade of interactive displays within the classroom. While chalkboards and whiteboards have been effective in the past, they do not reflect the rapidly changing technological needs and contemporary classroom environments for students. Interactive displays offer an enhanced learning experience for both students and professors, while also providing the classroom with an updated, modern look.

As we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the messages we continue to see is the need to adapt to the hybrid model. This has presented unique challenges for educational institutions, where the push to turn your home into a classroom has come with a learning curve for both teachers and students.

Despite the fact that many schools have pivoted back to in-person learning, the classroom environment has become more complex and nuanced than ever before. Educators and administrators need to be ready with updated technology to switch up the learning structure from classroom to hybrid – and back again – if the occasion calls for it. Here are two ways in which they can accomplish just that.

According to a recent study, only 29% of surveyed employees want to be back in the office full-time, and 56% would quit or look for a new job that offers flexibility when they work.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the landscape in which we work has forever changed. When companies were forced to operate remotely, many employees across the globe got a taste of what it was like to work from home full-time. Now, many organizations are choosing to operate with a hybrid workforce as a permanent solution to reduce costs and adapt to their employees' needs.

Yet, despite the benefits of a hybrid work environment, the way employees see culture and how organizations build it is evolving. With a dispersed workforce, it's essentially harder for organizations to connect with their people to create a unified cultural experience. In this blog post, we discuss five ways to build culture in a hybrid work environment to help your organization overcome challenges from a physically dispersed workforce.

While summer is in full swing, the back-to-school season is closer than you think, but this year it might feel a little different — and by different, we mean “sort of normal.” After the truncated 2019-2020 school year and the mostly at-home 2020-2021 school year, it looks like students and teachers will, for the most part, be going back to in-person learning. And while discussions about masks and vaccines continue to take place, other changes are taking place, and many of those will require changes to the way children learn and teachers teach, and the tools and technologies that facilitate those activities. Here are a few things to think about when enabling school safety and better interactive learning

Whether you’re headed into a job interview, presentation, or a special occasion, it’s important to “look the part.” The same applies to dressing up your learning environment technology. In schools, having a modern space, tools and resources allows students to be informed, stay motivated and communicate with ease. The COVID-19 pandemic has launched educators and students into completely new ways of learning where they rely on technology more than ever. While we know the impact that interactive displays have on the classroom, adding digital signage to school common areas can make a major visual impact while providing a simplified way to communicate to large audiences at once.  

Traditionally associated with retail spaces, fast food and fast casual restaurants, digital signage is seeing increased demand from K-12 to colleges and universities. There are countless locations within a school – some you may not have thought of – where digital signage can make a difference.